Graphical user interfaces have traditionally been used for interfacing personal computer systems. Most popular graphic user interfaces that are available, such as Apple Macintosh, and Microsoft Windows are based on the “desktop icon”. In a desktop icon system, the display screen is treated as a virtual desktop. Graphical symbols placed on the virtual desktop are used to represent common objects found in an office environment, such as files, file folders, and printers. These graphical symbols are typically known as “icons”.
User interfaces are now being proposed for use with television systems and other display systems, some examples of which are described below. The publication U.S. Pat. No. 6,057,890 discloses a tabular user interface for a television system, where a user can upon demand view an electronic program guide on the television monitor. The electronic program guide comprises descriptions of programs currently being aired, and descriptions of future broadcasts. The user can navigate through the channel timeslots by manipulating keys on the remote control. The user may perform different operations from the electronic program guide, such as selecting a program for viewing, or setting an event timer. The publication U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,188 also discloses a tabular user interface for a television system, where a user can upon demand view an electronic program guide on the television monitor. The displayed electronic program guide includes an array of irregular cells each designating a program and which vary in length corresponding to the different television program time lengths. The user via this electronic program guide can select a program for viewing or subsequent recording. This tabular user interface also includes an event timer in the form of a field for indicating the time of a next scheduled time recording. The aforementioned United States patents both suffer from the disadvantage that the event timer does not intuitively indicate to a user how long before a predetermined event will occur.